


Quarters, Dimes, Nickels & Pennies

by MyOwnWorstCritic



Category: The West Wing
Genre: F/M, Future Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-07-29
Updated: 2008-07-29
Packaged: 2019-08-21 06:07:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,359
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16571096
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MyOwnWorstCritic/pseuds/MyOwnWorstCritic
Summary: The boy was enjoying torturing his mother by banging a wooden spoon on three different pans.post-series





	Quarters, Dimes, Nickels & Pennies

The seven-month-old lay in her box, playing with her toes, completely oblivious to the ear-deafening sound in the room. The three-year-old was enjoying torturing his mother by banging a wooden spoon on three different pans. Kate lay on the couch, where she could see both the box with the baby girl, and the boy amidst pots and pans. He was clearly enjoying the banging; she wasn't. After a while, she couldn't handle it anymore. She got up, and lifted the baby out of her box and placed her on her hip. She baby squealed and cooed, as she played with a strand of Kate's hair.

"Tommy," Kate said. The boy stopped banging and looked up at her with innocent eyes and a sugar-sweet smile.

"Yes?"

"Wanna go get the mail with me?" she asked. The boy considered his options and after a while got up, and grabbed Kate's free hand. They walked through the house and Tommy reached up to try and open the front door. Kate smiled and helped him. She closed the door behind them. Tommy hopped to the mailbox and tried desperately to open it, but he was still too short. So Kate opened the mailbox and handed the mail to Tommy. He gave the envelopes to her, except three magazines. He looked at them puzzled.

"Pretty, mommy. What it?" He held up the magazine. It was a Playboy magazine.

"Oh," she said and quickly took it from him. She read the label. 'Mr. Hendricks'. She smiled to herself. Mr. Hendricks was their next-door neighbor, an elderly man. The other two were also addressed to him, and luckily, less  _revealing_. She closed the mailbox. Kate moved the baby girl from one hip to the other.

"Tommy, these are for Mr. Hendricks. Wanna go take them to him?" The boy nodded.

"Mommy 'n Maddie come too?" he asked.

"Of course, sweetie," she said and ruffled his hair, as they walked to the house next to theirs. Tommy walked up the porch, to the door, and Kate lingered back a bit. He turned to look at her for reassurance.

"Go ahead," she coaxed. The boy knocked on the door. After a while, the door swung open and there stood an elderly woman.

"Hi missus 'Endicks," Tommy said.

"Hi sugarplum. Hey Kate," the woman said and waved at Kate, who waved back.

"Is mis-er 'Endicks 'ome?" Tommy asked, and Kate had to smile at her son.

"No, he's not. What do you have there?" Mrs. Hendricks said to Tommy. Kate had placed the Playboy in between the other two magazines, so her son wouldn't see it.

"For him," Tommy said and gave her the magazines.

"The new mailman accidentally put them in our mailbox," Kate said. "They were all addressed to your husband, ma'am." Kate bit her lip to conceal her smile. The woman went through the magazines and stopped at the second one.

"Oh dear," she said. "I'm sorry you had to see this."

"It's okay," Kate said.

"Is that Madison? She's gotten so big," the elderly woman said. The baby turned her head at the sound of her name.

"Yes. She's seven months old tomorrow."

"I'm three," Tommy said and held up three fingers. The woman reached into the house.

"And for that, you get three quarters. I want you to put them in your piggy bank, okay?" The little boy nodded and took the three coins.

"What do you say?" Kate urged. Tommy turned back to the woman.

"Tank-you." He smiled sweetly.

"Alright, come on," Kate said.

"Okay, goodbye now. Tommy, be good to your parents. It was nice to see you Kate." The boy nodded.

"Same here, have a nice day." The woman waved at them and Madison and Tommy happily waved back. As they walked back to their house, Kate saw Will standing in the doorway. She waved at him. His face went from worry to relief.

"Hey, what's wrong?" she asked when they were closer.

"Imagine the near-heart attack I had when I came downstairs and you three were nowhere to be found." She smiled.

"I'm sorry. I forgot to leave a note. We just went out to get the mail, and Mr. Hendricks' magazines were left in our mailbox so we went over next door to deliver them."

"Did Tommy see his magazines?" Will asked amusedly.

"Yes unfortunately; I immediately took it from him." Madison was reaching out to Will, and whimpered to get their attention.

"C'mere, sweetheart," Will said and took her over from Kate. The little girl pressed a quick peck to his cheek, making him smile and kiss her forehead.

"Tell daddy what you got," Kate said to Tommy.

"Daddy, missus 'Endicks give me three quarter," the boy said excitedly and opened his hand, where the three coins looked big in his small hand.

"Wow, what are you gonna do with them?"

"Wat can I do wit three quarters?" the boy asked.

"What did Mrs. Hendricks say to do with it?" Kate answered her son's question with another question.

"Pu-it in ma piggy bank. But wat-zat?" he asked.

"You know that blue piggy you have in your room, the one with the thin hole on top?" Will said and the boy nodded. "Uh huh."

"Well, it's for saving coins. You're gonna put those three quarters in it. And any other time you get coins, like quarters, dimes, nickels and pennies, you put them in there," Will explained.

"Bu then what?"

"When it's completely full, it'll be worth a lot of money and you can buy things."

"Oh... Okay." The boy smiled brightly as he shrugged. He passed Will and ran upstairs. Madison was trying to grab Will's shirt, but did not succeed. She frowned and softly patted Will on the shoulder, making him smile down at her. She tried grabbing his shirt again, making him smile wider and her frown deeper. She looked  _exactly_  like her mother when she was frustrated. She was the epitome of Kate, blonde hair, brown eyes. Feisty. Definitely  _not_  shy. Their son was slightly different... On the inside. On the outside he had dirty-blonde hair and brown eyes. Thomas was really, extremely shy. He was open with people he knew well and who had been proven trustworthy. Although, when he was a baby, he was exactly like Madison. Will was brought back to reality by Madison patting his shoulder again, albeit this time as hard as her tiny hand could.

"Do you want your blanket?" he asked and she nodded fiercely. Kate took her over from Will, as he went inside, and she followed him to the living room, where she sat down on the couch and held Madison in her lap. When Will finally handed the blanket, which previously lay in the box, to Madison, she immediately became happy and even managed a giggle. Tommy came downstairs carrying a blue piggy bank. A huge smile was plastered over his face. Madison frowned at her older brother, until he jiggled the pig and the sound of coins bouncing around was heard. Madison squealed in delight and Tommy laughed. Tommy put the pig back down and went to sit back in his original spot in the middle of the pots and pans. Kate groaned. Madison inched towards the edge of Kate's knees. Kate got the hint and put the girl down, who crawled over to her brother. She picked up a smaller pot and put it on her head, laughing when it covered her eyes. Tommy laughed so hard, he fell back, making Madison giggle. Will sat down by his wife, and she instinctively leaned into him, eyes never leaving the two kids. Her back was to him, and his arm encircled her waist, pulling her closer to him. It still amazed her how perfectly their bodies fit, like they were made for each other. His lips gently brushed her ear, right before she heard him whisper, "I love you." They were all he ever needed. She turned her head and captured his lips with hers. He saw the sparkle in her beautiful brown eyes, when she whispered back the words, "I love you, too."


End file.
